While feminist approaches to the stage musical have been richly explored, a critical reading of masculinity in relation to musical theatre throughout the 20th and 21st century has yet to be firmly presented.

Masculinities in Musical Theatre considers the representation of masculinity in British and American Musical Theatre from the 1940s to the 2020s. This accessible volume offers students a close analysis of established golden age musicals such as Oklahoma! (1943), to the rock/pop musical Spring Awakening (2006), and new contemporary classics like Everybody's Talking About Jamie (2017) and A Strange Loop (2019). It offers a critical framework to discuss the issues raised, traces the ways in which our perception of masculinity has evolved in the last century, and, in turn, assesses how the depiction of men on the musical theatre stage has altered to reflect broader shifts in societal understanding of gender roles moving into the 21st century.

Across an introduction and three chapters, this short introductory book uses a range of influential case studies, textual and musicological analysis alongside critical commentary to connect theories on masculinities with relevant historical, social, political and performance contexts.

Published in Methuen Drama's Topics in Musical Theatre series, this short book gives a much-needed introduction to an important and often overlooked topic.